True Blood was a lot, and while it’s been a while since we looked back at what life in Bon Temps was like, it’s interesting to get in that headspace again, given a bit of new information about the show that’s recently come courtesy of creator Alan Ball.

While speaking about True Blood at this year’s Vulture Festival in Los Angeles, Ball explained how, before Anna Paquin became HBO’s choice to portray Sookie Stackhouse, Jessica Chastain was also in the running, and that Chastain’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix costar Jennifer Lawrence also read for a part on the show. Even more shocking is that Benedict Cumberbatch might have ended up playing Vampire Bill, one of the show’s earliest leading men, whose whole reason for being was to exude raw sexual energy on the screen. Ball said, “I read Benedict Cumberbatch. He came and read for Bill... Jessica Chastain read for Sookie. Jennifer Lawrence read for, in season 3 there’s this werepanther girl, and she was great.”

Now, let’s be clear about something: Everyone on True Blood was attractive to the point of ridiculousness, and that almost made the show unwatchable more than once. In another world, the same would have been said for Cumberbatch who, knowing he was slated to play an ageless sexpot, probably would have gone through a transformation of sorts to get him more into that beefcake realm. Of course, he’d go on to become a heartthrob anyway, thanks to Sherlock becoming such a massive hit.

What’s difficult to wrap your mind around is the idea of Cumberbatch doing that kind of uniquely unrealistic, almost cartoony southern US accent that became a hallmark of True Blood. Just, like, close your eyes and try to imagine that.